Once Again, States Expect Brimming Coffers

By Bess Keller

With state economies giving every sign of barreling through another year of growth, many lawmakers have once again set their sights on increased education funding. Among the goodies they hope to deliver in 2000 are expanded early-childhood programs and pay raises for teachers.

State legislators don't envision a spending spree, however, even with the first year of tobacco-settlement payments rolling in. As many legislative sessions begin this month, leaders are more likely to continue their pattern of balancing spending increases with tax cuts and budget reserves.

"It's yet another year that, from a fiscal perspective, is simply too good to be true," said Donald J. Boyd, the director of the Center for the Study of the States at the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, N.Y. "States have been wary about this enormous growth of revenue, building up fund balances and in many cases giving temporary...